Fact Fridays…Guest Post: Top Tips for Problem Free Breastfeeding

 

Our post for this week’s “Fact Fridays” for breastfeeding is from Jodie Fuller, one of our MomPals or should I say MumPals, from across the pond! Jodie manages to write these gems while being mum-in-chief of http://www.my-babyshop.co.uk, http://www.my-beautyshop.co.uk, and http://www.my-bookstore.co.uk. I don’t know where she finds the time, bravo girl! Check Jodie’s sites when you get a chance for great baby products and to grab yourself some great practical products and gifts!

Top Tips for Problem Free Breastfeeding

Shall I? Shall I not? Why do we have a choice? Because of the invention of formula! Imagine if formula was never invented we would not be having this conversation! It is because of the freedom of choice and products available to us, that we are faced with some tricky choices. In the 3^rd world and poor countries, formula is not available and therefore breastfeeding is the ONLY choice. Where formula has started to be introduced to poor countries, they now face the huge problem of newborns becoming sick due to poor hygiene and lack of sterile conditions formula requires.

A woman’s breast is DESIGNED to produce milk. Experts agree that breast milk is the best food for your baby; in fact, it is perfect food and completely clean, packed with anti-bodies and contains just the right amount of nutrients. Breastfeeding is also good for women, protecting them against breast cancer, ovarian cancer and hip fractures!

 It supports the baby’s immune system and is a natural protector! Knowing how your milk is produced will help you understand some of the initial problems you may be faced with.

Babies who are given nothing but breast milk for more than three months, have been found to have higher IQ’s than those given formula milk.

I will give you some top tips from myself and other mums who have overcome the problems you will face when breastfeeding, so you can find the strength to carry on when those around you may not be supporting you!

To do all you can to help the breastfeeding go well, consider this check list:

• Make a firm decision to breastfeed (or not to) during pregnancy and stick to it!
• Feed your newborn as soon as you can after delivery, this will help with bonding.
• Don’t be put off if you can’t get baby to latch on first time, it takes practice, and is not your babies problem, other than the baby having actual, clinically “tongue tied”, there is no excuse why your baby cannot learn. It is getting into the right positions and then practice it.
• Feed on demand day and night, it sounds wrong, but you will find great peace not trying to get a “routine” from day one! It is very stressful when you are constantly asked “are you in a routine yet”. You will find this will automatically fall into its own “routine” without being forced into one. Less stress for everyone!
• Get your midwife to help you with latching on techniques and be patient.
• Don’t give your baby a bottle in the first 4 weeks – this will just confuse the whole situation and will not solve any problem you thought it would solve. Baby will become confused about how to then latch on to the bottle and will have further problems switching back and forth.
• Make regular contact with a local breastfeeding counsellor – I attended a breastfeeding group weekly which really helped morale and we shared problems and issues and got them resolved with like minded mums.
• Be patient. Think of it as a skill you need to learn.
• Ask for help WHEN you need it, don’t be too proud to get help

Breastfeeding gives you plenty of opportunities to bond.

I have breastfed two babies and although it was very tough, hard, draining at times, worrying and intense, I wouldn’t change what I did for the world.

I provided my daughters with the very best possible start with the very best milk (from me, made for them) and I feel liberated and proud to of done just that.

There are many products out there to support you in being comfortable in the breastfeeding world, and in my experience, a good, well supportive shaped pillow is a great one to have. 

Jodie Fuller

Tasty Tuesdays???…Chef at Chelsea restaurant offers customers breast milk cheese – NYPOST.com

This Chelsea restaurant has gone from brasserie to brassiere.

Chef Daniel Angerer is letting diners at Klee Brasserie munch on cheese made from his wife’s breast milk.

“It tastes like cow’s-milk cheese, kind of sweet,” he told The Post.

The flavor depends on what the cheese is served with — Angerer recommends a Riesling — and “what the mother eats,” said Angerer, who once bested Bobby Flay on TV’s “Iron Chef.”

Breast milk doesn’t curdle well due to its low protein content, so a little moo juice has to be added to round out the texture, Angerer said.

After blogging about his efforts with the human cheese, customers started demanding a sample, he said.

“The phone was ringing off the hook,” the chef said. “So I prepared a little canapé of breast-milk cheese with figs and Hungarian pepper.”

The response has been generally positive from those who’ve tried the cheese, although many customers are too squeamish to attempt it.

“I think a lot of the criticism has to do with the combination of sex and cheese, but . . . the breast is there to make food,” said Lori Mason, the chef’s wife.

Since the restaurant began offering customers a taste, Mason has been inundated with creepy queries, she said.

“Some people who clearly have issues have . . . e-mailed me saying, ‘I wasn’t breast-fed as a child, so can I taste your breast milk?’ ” she said.

Mason politely declines the offer.

“I’m not here to walk people through their psychological problems,” she said.

That said, Mason is now prodding her husband to make gelato.

After inquiries from The Post, health bigs said yesterday that even though department codes do not explicitly forbid the practice, they have advised Angerer to refrain from sharing his wife’s milk with the world.

“The restaurant knows that cheese made from breast milk is not for public consumption, whether sold or given away,” a spokeswoman for the city Department of Health said.

Would you try breast milk cheese? Will this be the next trend for foodies? Let me know what you think…

Mommy Mondays…Woman Charged for Squirting Breast Milk at Deputy

  This one is going to be interesting to watch…

A Kentucky woman was charged with assault after she allegedly squirted breast milk into the face of a deputy, sparking online debate Sunday in the local media.

Toni Tramel, 31, was arrested Thursday for public intoxication in Owensboro, WYMT-TV reported, but it is what she did next which has attracted headlines.

As Tramel changed into an inmate uniform, she squirted a stream of breast milk into the face of the female deputy watching over her.

A press release from the Daviess County, Kentucky, Detention Center, said that after the deputy decontaminated herself from the “bio-hazard”, Tramel was charged with third degree assault.

While the public drunkenness was merely a misdemeanor offense, the assault is a felony charge and a US$10,000 bond was set.

Reports of the case have sparked debates about whether using breast milk as a weapon should constitute a felony assault case, with many readers likening it to an accused person spitting on an officer.

Also sparking feedback has been the use of the term “bio-hazard” to describe breast milk.

Woman Charged for Squirting Breast Milk at Deputy – Incredible Health – FOXNews.com

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Mommy Mondays…Do you Doula?

Not to be confused with midwives or nurses, nor meant to replace partners or eager grandmothers, birth doulas provide a mom-to-be with the emotional and physical support she needs to carry out a healthy delivery, which can also include prenatal care. Their role is to encourage the laboring mom, keep her informed, hold her hand and rub her back, and involve any relatives that are around in the birth.

Studies have shown that the presence of doulas decreases the number of caesarian sections and epidurals, increases breastfeeding rates and creates an overall positive birth experience. Some doulas also provide postpartum support, attending to the needs of both mom and baby.

Read more about how a doula can help you here…

Article courtesy of Mission Local

Mommy Mondays…101 Reasons to Breastfeed…

Breastfeeding is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding aspects of being a mother. The health benefits for mother and child are numerous, and the folks over at dmomma.org have put together a list of 101 why reasons you should breastfeed. Take a peek here and bookmark it for those “difficult” days ;-)!